A Forward Air Controller, often
referred to as a FAC, is a specially trained and qualified pilot. The FAC
flys his aircraft in the immediate area of friendly ground forces for the
support purposes of reconnaissance and delivery of air ordinance when
requested by ground commanders. Just
about any type aircraft can be used for FAC operations.However, the Night Rustic FACs were given
the military Cessna O-2A, the civilian version of which was the Cessna
Skymaster 337 (see O-2A picture on the home page).

The
night FAC was the O-2A aircraft commander and directed each fighter’s
ordinance drops, adjusting the target from each previously dropped bomb.From time to time, the FAC would fire one
of seven carried 2.75” folding fin White Phosphorus rockets from his O-2A
onto the target for marking purposes to the jet fighters.Upon striking the ground, the “Willy Pete”
(nickname) rocket would produce a puff of smoke from the burning phosphorus
and the FAC would then instruct the fighters to “Hit my smoke” with their bombs
or machine guns.As on-scene battle commander,
the FAC had to give clearance to each fighter for each bomb delivery or
strafing run.That command to the
fighter pilots was “Cleared in hot”, meaning they were approved to expend
their ordinance precisely as directed by the FAC.

What is a Night Rustic?

The call sign for our squadron flying the FAC mission
over Cambodia was assigned as “Rustic” and because a different aircraft
(OV-10A) and different Rustic pilot group flew our area of operation in the
daytime, and that aircraft was not suitable for night fighting, our group
flying the O-2A became known as the Night Rustics.

If a Cambodian Army ground commander came under attack
at night from the enemy and needed help in the form of close air support, he
would radio a Rustic aircraft in the area.

The Night Rustic FAC (left
seat aircraft commander) would immediately fly to the ground commander’s
location from map coordinates given to him by the commander over the
radio.Enroute, the FAC would radio
in an order for fighter jets or gun ships to help halt the ground attack
against the friendly troops.As soon
as the Rustic FAC would arrive near the enemy target, he would drop one of
his four carried 3 million candlepower flares to illuminate the target and
temporarily cease the enemy’s ground attack.The FAC would then begin to plan his air attack based upon verifying exactly
where the Cambodian troops were and where the enemy position was reported to
be.

Often
times at night, the firefight in the jungle could be seen by the FAC, and
even more often, the FAC aircraft was fired upon by the enemy as well.This became very obvious when colored
tracer bullets streaked through the sky toward the aircraft.Usually by this time, the flight of jet
fighters would be calling the FAC to “check in” and get steered to the FACs
location to be put into action.

Taking
on his designated job as the on-scene battle commander, the FAC in the left
seat would then obtain the ordinance types that each fighter carried,
carefully decide which types to use in order to not accidentally drop a bomb
on the friendlies, brief the fighter pilots on the situation and plan of
attack.Since the friendly armies were
always in such close proximity to the enemy attackers, precision, planning,
and execution became critical as it was the sole responsibility of the FAC to
avoid a “short round”, or “friendly fire” accident.If that wasn’t enough of a challenge, the O-2A Rustics did it
in the dark!! Because of the added difficulty of darkness, a second fully qualified
Rustic FAC pilot was assigned to the right seat on each night mission, his
duties being to use the Starlight scope, plot the map coordinates, and
operate the FM radio as liaison with the ground commander during air support
attacks. No GPS in 1970….everything was plotted by hand on maps, with targets
and terrain features viewed by leaning out the right seat open window of the
aircraft using Starlight scopes that magnified the sky’s ambient light by
thousands of times.This light
amplification resulted in a daylight-like green-screen realtime image similar
to the night-vision goggles used by the military today.